Tideline 365 Offshore

A custom builder with Carolina roots expands its line of fish-friendly catamarans.

Tideline’s easily towable, handsome 23-footer splashed onto the scene as the 235 Hybrid, a moniker earned by proving her mettle as a skinny (1-foot, 2-inch draft with the engines up) inshore and offshore dynamo. But customers wanted to go even farther than the 235 could take them. “We had a lot of guys looking for purely an offshore boat,” Tideline Boats co-owner Michael Collins says, so he answered the bell last year with the 365 Offshore.

Gallery: Tideline 365 Offshore

Built hard by Albemarle Sound, its flagship was drawn by naval architect Robert Ullberg (he’s penned a number of sportfish yachts for Bayliss and Bertram) and designed to fish the snotty waters off the Carolina coast. Here, builders “tend to build things on the beefier side,” says Collins, and the 365’s construction speaks to this. All Tidelines are vacuum-bagged and resin-infused, with the deck, console and leaning post glassed and bolted to the hull. In tandem with its composite stringer grid, the result is a light, stiff vessel closer to the monocoque, cold-molded hulls of its Carolina compatriots than a traditional fiberglass layup.

Her hull design is markedly different than a deep-V—the sharper entry and shallower draft cuts through the water cleaner. Having less water displacement than a deep-V (most is captured in the tunnel between the hulls), it’s a drier ride as well. Collins says confidence in the 365 translates into more time chasing fish. “Our boats are dramatically more stable both at rest and at trolling speeds; the difference [compared to monohulls] is jaw-dropping.” Moderate to rough seas that are uncomfortable in a monohull tend to be more comfortable in a cat boat. That means additional days on the water.

Tideline 365 Offshore

She’s ready for angling adventures, with a slew of rod stowage, two standard 45-gallon livewells (with two more 88-gallon wells in the sole) three insulated fishboxes and options for tuna tubes. The wide transom door between the powerplants ensures you won’t be pulling those big yellowfins over the transom. Custom seating for seven rounds out the standard layout.

Collins says that Tideline moved to the 36-footer because the size offered more power options than something over 40 feet. “It’s in a range where you can get good performance in twins, but can use quads as well,” he says. In both applications, the numbers are impressive: the lower hull resistance gets cats on plane faster with less bow rise throughout the rpm range. The 365 will average over 1.4 mpg at a 35-knot cruise when paired with twin 350-hp outboards on its way to a top hop just shy of 50 knots.

But if you want more speed, she can deliver. Collins tells of a 365 he delivered to a client who wanted to cruise at 50 knots, so they hung quad Suzuki 350s off her transom. She easily hit that cruise speed and with the throttles firewalled she’ll reportedly blow your hair back at over 60 knots.

At press time, Tideline has built six of the fully custom 365s. The base price is $325,000 with Suzuki 350s; engine options in twin and quad configurations are client’s choice.

The Contender 44 ST just may crack the 70-knot barrier. When loyal owners asked for a larger model with enhanced range and amenities for multiday trips, the design team at Contender created this thoroughbred.